Yanks Scolded A-Rod About Off-Field Antics

From Jon Heyman:Top Yankees officials are apparently giving Alex Rodriguez a pass on his latest appearance in the tabloids, but they were annoyed and concerned enough about his extracurricular activities and a spate of often unflattering celebrity news stories that top team executives -- including owners Hal and Hank Steinbrenner -- staged serious discussions with the superstar slugger in recent weeks about toning down his off-field act and focusing entirely on his well-known drive to be baseball's best player, according to people familiar with those talks. The most serious of the heart-to-heart talks occurred right after Sports Illustrated reported on Feb. 7 that Rodriguez was one of 104 players to have failed baseball's 2003 survey test, as club officials used the steroid revelation as a platform to discuss avoidance of all controversy. That message was strongly reinforced again by top Yankees executives after A-Rod was rather indiscreetly picked up by cousin Yuri Sucart f...